# Chapter 121
Levi gently touched the black ash piled where Raziel had disappeared with his fingertips. The fine particles, which didn’t stick to his hand but rubbed smoothly, slowly scattered in Levi’s palm.
A cool breeze, so gentle it was barely perceptible, was blowing through the hall. Carried on that breeze, the black ash that had been gradually dispersing was now dissolving into the air as if melting away.
Levi picked up the black bead that had been his core from within the ash. The black bead, with its lustrous shine like a black pearl, vibrated finely as if calling to Levi.
Levi quietly gazed at the black bead.
It was his first time seeing his own core directly like this. It was smaller than he’d thought, more beautiful, and as deep a shade of darkness as an abyss.
As he silently observed the core in his palm for a long while, careful footsteps approached.
“Are you alright?”
A voice filled with concern awakened Levi from his thoughts.
Turning around, Levi met the eyes of Ion, whose face looked as worried as his voice sounded.
“I’m fine.”
True to his words, Levi appeared to be fine. Contrary to Ion’s concerns, there was no particular change in his expression. He didn’t seem relieved or happy, nor did he show any signs of depression or sadness.
Levi stood up, still clutching the core that remained in Raziel’s black ashes.
“Raziel was afraid because he thought this life would be his last.”
Levi, having turned toward Ion, lowered his eyes as he recalled Raziel’s final moments.
“He didn’t seem scared anymore at the end.”
Only after uttering those words did he appear genuinely relieved.
Ion reached out both hands toward Levi, fully embracing him in his arms. Though the hard armor made it difficult to feel each other’s body heat, it still felt good.
“How about you?”
At Ion’s question, Levi raised his head to look at him directly.
“It seems to have happened as your mother described, but I’m still worried.”
Worry refused to leave Ion’s face as Levi looked at him.
Ion’s gaze fell on Levi’s collarbone, which until recently had been gushing blood. Now, as if to prove that his body had properly become “human,” the wounded area that had received Ion’s ability had already become completely clean.
Recalling the contents of the note his mother Claudia had left, Ion let out a deep sigh, thinking that both his mother and Levi had been far too reckless.
It was the day after Count Chepel Lance had found Levi’s third fragment and returned to the mansion.
Ion visited his former home, which had become a tourist attraction. Although he hadn’t dressed particularly extravagantly, many people, including the self-defense corps, recognized him and flocked around, forcing Owen, the only person who had accompanied him that day, to reluctantly serve as a gatekeeper.
He had worried that Chepel might have made a mess while searching his former home, but since there were so few remaining items, he couldn’t see much difference from his previous visit.
The place where Chepel had discovered the black fragment was easy to find without having to search everywhere. Ion carefully observed a hole in the floor that he didn’t remember. After scanning the mechanism of the floor hole and the inner wall with his eyes, Ion soon discovered another small device.
Perceiving a subtle difference in the wall, he lightly pressed on the particularly rough section, and a clicking sound was heard from inside. The thin wall where he had pressed suddenly flipped open, revealing a small folded note.
It was something left for whoever might come looking for Levi’s fragment someday.
[My beloved son.]
Just from that opening, it was clear enough who it was intended for.
[I believe you and I share the same wish.]
Claudia had left densely written text on paper for her son.
Surprisingly, she wrote that she had personally killed Levi once and had deliberately hidden one fragment that had broken off from his core instead of returning it. She said it was an unavoidable choice to follow the method that Levi’s second fragment had told her.
The second fragment, Theodore, instinctively knew what Raziel had thought. He knew that it was possible to change the body in which the core would settle through a fusion process, and that they—not Levi—could become the original body.
But unlike Raziel, Theodore had not the slightest desire to become the original body instead of Levi. The arduous years and loneliness that the original body had to endure were too great. He thought that future black fragments, who might become human even temporarily, would feel the same way.
That’s why he didn’t want to reveal this fact to Claudia.
Theodore knew well that those who directly inherited the power of the golden beads always met Levi as if by fate and sought by all means to find a way to make him human. In past memories, the successors of the golden bead that Levi had met had always been dedicated enough to make him human. Though none had succeeded.
Among them, Claudia was particularly active and passionate. Theodore was moved by her heart as if he himself had become Levi, and this soon developed into love. That’s why, for Claudia’s sake, he eventually revealed the only method by which Levi could become a true “human.”
The method was to absorb all fragments into Levi except for one, then make the last fragment human and transfer the core into that body. Since the humanized fragment would inevitably be born with the black hand connected to “Death,” only with that hand could the core be completely separated from the original body.
Claudia was quite confused when she heard this method.
Although she was willing to do anything for Levi, the method was too harsh for Claudia. To change the original body, either Theodore would have to become “Death,” fighting loneliness alone through immortality, or be absorbed and disappear—she couldn’t choose either option.
After returning to her homeland upon hearing that Levi had died protecting young Hest, she still couldn’t make any choice even after Levi fully regenerated and gave birth to Ion.
In the midst of this, killing Levi was not her intention.
“Kill me.”
It was the year Hest turned 11.
Levi asked Claudia to kill him.
It was because the Emperor had noticed his existence.
Despite strict control over his actions of staying in the mansion for a long time and guiding many people to peaceful deaths, this eventually reached the Emperor’s ears. While it seemed merely odd to others, for the Emperor, who was well aware of Claudia’s interests and how frequently she had visited the marquis’s residence before being deposed, it was enough to form various hypotheses.
The Emperor hired someone to cleverly coax and threaten one of the marquis’s servants, finally confirming Levi’s existence.
At that time, the Emperor would not refuse anything useful for destroying the Caron Empire. Claudia, who knew well how cruel and despicable he was, visited the marquis’s residence to help Levi escape, only to receive a request for murder instead.
The best way to avoid the Emperor’s eyes was for Levi to vanish without a trace. Especially since his core would damage and turn to black ash on the spot, there would be no chance for information to leak.
The one who knew this best was Levi himself.
“It’s okay. If you place me completely in the Black Forest, I’ll wake up in a year, just like last time.”
Levi calmly said, exposing his collarbone for easy stabbing. Claudia contemplated for a long time but had to follow his words as the Emperor’s pressure increased.
However, once Claudia held the core and one small fragment, she suddenly changed her mind.
The small fragment in her hand was a crucial medium for the only method by which Levi could become a true human.
[After Theodore fully lived his life and merged with Levi’s core, I planned to use this small fragment to change the original body of the black bead.]
This was purely Claudia’s idea, and neither Levi nor the other black fragments sharing his memories could have known her thoughts.
Claudia decided to hide the small fragment in a place only she knew to keep her first promise with Levi. As a result, Levi had to sleep for 7 years instead of 1. When he reopened his eyes, he didn’t remember Claudia, Hest, or Ion.
Claudia hoped that if she were to pass away before Theodore, her son would fulfill Levi’s wish in her place.
This information was directly conveyed to Levi, who had recovered all his memories with Claudia.
After hearing the whole story, Levi thought for a long time and then calmly planned this event with Ion alone, including how to use the “power of life” that Claudia had not fully realized.
Ion said he could be stabbed anywhere freely when told his blood was needed. But when Levi stabbed him mercilessly, as if he had truly forgotten him, Ion’s heart sank momentarily.
“I’m sorry. Did it hurt?”
Concern filled Levi’s eyes as he looked at Ion’s side, which was now completely healed. Ion’s face flushed slightly, his heart apparently fluttering at just that much as he cupped Levi’s cheeks with both hands.
“Not at all. I’m happy to be stabbed anywhere if it’s by you.”
If Hest had been there, he would have called him “crazy” several times, but fortunately, Levi didn’t seem to sense anything odd. Perhaps he was getting used to Ion’s words.
Rubbing his face against Ion’s hands out of habit, Levi held out his black core to him. The core, now perfect without any breaks, was repeatedly sending small vibrations to Levi’s hand, as if telling him to accept it again.
